Daily Wrapup For September 8th

Post-long weekend, the three major averages did quite well; so far, the widely-anticipated September Effect has yet to make its appearance except for a few down days. After opening with gains averaging about 0.5%, the averages carved out a trading range; at no point were any of them down on the day. The Dow closed up 0.59%, the S&P finished up 0.88% and the NASDAQ gained 0.94%. Light sweet crude for October delivery ended above $70 per barrel again, closing at $71.10/bbl for a gain of $3.08. Gold got top-story play today because the metal broached $1000/oz, even though it failed to hold on to most its gains in regular trading. Spot gold ended the regular session at $996.70, but moved back above $1000 later.

The lowest-quintile cut-off continued to rise today, from Friday's 11.75 to today's 11.88. The yield cut-off, being the S&P dividend yield, dropped two basis points to 2.58%. After ETFs and stocks with less then 500M market cap were discarded, along with ones yielding more than 10%, the Low P/E Bin was left with one hundred and four stocks for a gain of three from yesterday. Here are the changes in the Bin, as dash-listed below:

Arrivals:
- AstraZeneca plc
- New York Community Bancorp, Inc.
- NiSource Inc.
- Northeast Utilities System
- SCANA Corporation
- The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

Departures:
- Compass Minerals International, Inc.
- General Dynamics Corporation
- Telecom Italia SpA


Three of today's six Arrivals are new: they all got in because their P/Es fell below the lowest-quintile cut-off. New York Community Bancorp, the holding company for New York Community Bank and New York Commercial Bank, is one of not many companies with a payout ratio of more than 100%: its P/E is 11.85 and its yield is 9.51%, for a dividend that has neither been raised nor cut in the last five years. Northeastern Utilities is a holding company for four utilities in the Northeastern United States: three electric, one gas. Its stock was virtually unchanged, but the Bin P/E cut-off rose above its own. McGraw-Hill got into the Bin becaue its stock plummeted 7.22% today, continuing a drop that started last Thursday. Its ratings division is facing potential lawsuits, and Warren Buffett is lowering Berkshire Hathaway's stake in the company.

The three other Arrivals have been in the Bin before. AstraZeneca, the U.K.-based major pharmaceutical company, got back in because its dividend yield ticked above the yield cut-off. Natural gas utility NiSource returned because its P/E fell below the lowest-quintile cut-off. The same cause was behind the return of electric utility SCANA.

All of the three Departures got out of the Bin because of gains in their stocks. Both Compass Minerals, a miner and seller of salt and sulfate of potassium products, and General Dynamics, a defense company, got out because their yields sunk below the yield cut-off. Compass stock gained 0.86%, and General Dynamics stock put in a much higher gain of 4.02%. The final Departure, Telecom Italia, saw its stock gain 3.15%. That leap was enough to push its P/E above the lowest-quintile cut-off.

Gains in both the stock market and metals added a real boost to the stock of metal and coal miner BHP Billiton plc. Recently, Billiton was sagging as an uptrend turned into a trading range. Today's 4.45% gain pushed it up to the top of its range from near the bottom. The company has a diversified product range - "alumina and aluminum, copper, energy (thermal) coal, iron ore, nickel, manganese, metallurgical coal, oil and gas and uranium, as well as gold, zinc, lead, silver and diamonds" - so it has benefitted from recent uptrends in those commodities. There was no company-specific news to account for its leap.

That's all for today's Wrapup. Thanks for reading, and welcome back to another post-summer season.

Daily Wrapup For September 4th

The rally that started yesterday continued today, which lessened the averages' drop over the week. This day's favourite cause was the unemployment number, released before the bell, which came in at an above-expected 9.7%. The raw job losses shrunk, though, making the rise partially caused by previously uncounted workers returning to the workforce (including the discouraged part of it.) At first, the three major averages hesitated, as an opening rally faded. By 10 AM ET, though, the averages eased back into rally mode. At noon ET, they leaped up, especially the NASDAQ, and the rest of the afternoon saw a trading range develop. Thanks to that afternoon push, the Dow closed up 1.03%, the S&P 500 gained 1.31%, and the NASDAQ ended with a much larger 1.79% gain. Light sweet crude for October delivery barely budged, closing up 6 cents a barrel to reach $68.02.

The lowest-quntile P/E cut-off was also up today, from yesterday's 11.68 to 11.75. The yield cut-off, being the S&P dividend yield, fell four basis points to 2.60%. After ETFs and stocks with less than 500M market cap were eliminated, along with ones that yield more than 10%, the Low P/E Bin was left with one hundred and one stocks for a gain of two from yesterday. Here are the changes in the Bin, as dash-listed below:

Arrivals:
- Exelon Corporation
- FPL Group, Inc.
- General Dynamics Corporation

Departures:
- Williams Pipeline Partners LP


The first Arrival is the only new one. Exelon is an electric utility holding company whose subsidiaries supply power to the Chicago and Pittsburgh areas. It got in through P/E compression; the 0.45% drop in its stock was enough to bring its P/E down to the cut-off. The second one is another utility, centered in Florida. FPL Group stock fell also, also compressing its P/E to Bin range. The third Arrival, General Dynamics, did rise, but the yield cut-off dropped faster than its own today. That differential was enough to bring the company back in the Bin.

The one and only Departure got out through a late-day rise in its stock. Williams Pipeline, a holder of natural gas storage and transporation systems, saw its stock rise 4.30% today; most of that rise took place in the last hour. Given the volume, it's possible that it will return to the Bin soon.

The markets did well, but not all stocks did. Before the bell, H&R Block announced a loss that was larger than expected: -39 cents per share vs. an expected -37 cents. That disappointment had a predictable effect on the stock, especially since the disappointment largely came from worse-than-expected continuing-operations earnings. H&R stock started the trading day with a 2.23% loss. Some of the drop was erased around noon, but the early afternoon saw a resumption in the decline that climaxed at about 2:36 PM ET. Then, it recovered somewhat to close at $16.62 - one cent below its opening price.

That's all for today's Wrapup. Thanks for reading, and enjoy the long weekend.


Disclosure: I'm holding H&R Block in the actively-managed Marketocracy mock fund I run.

Daily Wrapup For September 3rd

Again, the macro feed was pinned as the cause of today's market action. The three major averages opened up, with about 0.4% gains for each, but their gains melted during the first fifty minutes of trading. Then, they reversed course. The cause fingered was the release of the jobless claims report, which came in at a worse-than-expected 570,000. Continuing claims kept rising. Nevertheless, the three averages themselves began rising shortly after its release. After shooting back to near-open levels, the averages rose more slowly until about 1:30 PM ET, when they began gliding down. Then, at about 2:40 PM ET, their fall once again reversed; this time, it was replaced by a more powerful rally, which continued unabated until the close. At the end of regular trading, the Dow was up 0.69%, the S&P 500 had risen 0.85% and the NASDAQ sported a gain of 0.82%. Light sweet crude for October delivery closed down slightly, to $67.96 per barrel, while gold continued its bulish run for the second straight day: the metal closed within $10 of $1000 per ounce.

The lowest-quintile cut-off also rose today, from yesterday's 11.51 to 11.68. The S&P dividend yield, which forms the yield cut-off, fell two basis points to 2.64%. Once ETFs and stocks with less than 500M market cap were also gotten rid of, as well as ones with greater than 10% yields, the Low P/E Bin was left with ninety-nine stocks for a rise of five from yesterday. Here are the changes in the Bin, as dash-listed below:

Arrivals:
- Alliance Holdings GP, LP
- Cardinal Health, Inc.
- Herbalife Ltd.
- Holly Corporation
- Weight Watchers International, Inc.
- Williams Pipeline Partners LP

Departures:
- China Petroleum & Chemical Corp.


Two of the six Arrivals are new to the Bin, while two others returned after long absences. Alliance Holdings, a coal income trust, got in because its P/E hit right on the lowest-quintile cut-off. The second new Arrival, Cardinal Health, got in due to an accounting scandal. The healthcare-products supplier was found to have defrauded its shareholders about its revenues and income; the revelation pummelled the stock last Tuesday, bringing it into Bin range.

The two returnees which have been gone for a while are, oddly enough, both in the dieting line. Herbalife, a seller of weight management, nutritional, energy, and fitness products, got back in the Bin because its yield rose to a level above the cut-off. That was due to a drop in its stock, which started almost a month ago. The same reason applies to Weight Watchers, a seller of diet foods plus associated products and services, whose stock hit its peak about a week after Herbalife's.

The other two Arrivals haven't been gone for that long. Independent refiner Holly Corp. is another one that returned because its yield rose above the cut-off, whereas natural gas storer and transporter Williams Pipeline saw the P/E cut-off rise above its own.

Finally, the sole Departure, China Petroleum, exited the Bin for the reverse reason to most of the above: its yield dropped below the S&P yield cut-off.

It looks like the TARP-repayment magic is still around. CVB Financial annouced early this morning that it had sent the cheque to the Treasury to buy back its TARP preferreds. Although its stock was slow to take off, take off the stock did. CVB's been on a downtrend for close to a month, which has likely resulted from fears about its commercial-loan portfolio. Today, however, it shot up 4.93% in regular trading. In after-hours trading, it was up a further 1.71% subsequent to it giving up most of its regular-trading gains. The TARP repayment seems to the the trigger, but the leap-up could very well be a relief rally; there's no fundamental reason for it to rally right now, and won't be unless its financials show that CRE-related fears for its loan portfolio are overblown.

That's all for today's Wrapup. Thanks for reading, and hang on for sending-back-to-school season.


Disclosure: I'm holding CVB Financial in the actively-managed Marketocracy mock fund I run.

Daily Wrapup For September 2nd

Today's market action seems tailor-made for the phrase "it could have been worse." Still following the macro meme, market participants ascribed today's somewhat disappointing performance to the ADP employment report. The 289,000 loss in jobs is an improvement over recent months, and it would have had a positive spin put on it a month or two ago. But, expectations are higher now and it is September.

There was some substance to the attribution. After opening slightly lower and churning, the three major averages dropped quickly at about 10:15 AM ET. They reached their lows of the day as of 10:30 AM ET, when all three of them were riding losses of 0.4% or above. That plunge quickly reversed itself, though, and the averages spent the next four hours in a range. For the Dow and S&P 500, the range centered around the unchanged level; for the NASDAQ, about the +0.15% level. The last forty-five minutes saw all three dropping, right to the end of regular trading. As a result, the Dow ended up down 0.32%; the S&P, down 0.33%; and the NASDAQ, creeping into loss territory for the first time in the afternoon, ended down 0.09%. Light sweet crude oil for October delivery dropped slightly, to $67.93 per barrel. Interestingly, gold had a banner day today - and the cause ascribed was the ADP report too. Usually, the U.S. dollar and Treasury securities would rally in such a case, but not this day; gold rallied. It's too early to call this jump-up anything more than a portent, but it's not inconceivable that the safety-seekers are beginning to switch from Treasuries to gold.

Along with the general market, the lowest-quintile cut-off for the Low P/E Bin dropped today, from yesterday's 11.58 to today's 11.51. The yield cut-off, that being the S&P 500 dividend yield, rose a basis point to 2.66%. After ETFs and stocks with less than 500M market cap were also screened out, along with ones yielding more than 10%, the Bin was left with ninety-four stocks for a drop of one from yesterday. Here are today's changes in the Bin, as dash-listed below:

Arrivals:
- Merck & Co., Inc.

Departures:
- Banco de Chile
- Williams Pipeline Partners LP


Merck stock hasn't had the best of times since its peak on August 27th. After exiting the Bin thanks to P/E expansion, the major pharmaceutical company is back again due to its stock dropping 1.91% today. The first Departure contrasts with Merck fairly neatly. Banco de Chile got out of the Bin thanks to a 1.06% gain, which pushed its P/E above the cut-off. The final Departure, Williams Pipeline, did drop today but not enough to keep its P/E in the lowest quintile. Consequently, it's the second and final Departure today.

More than a week ago, the Banco Santander analytical department raised Mexican stocks to "overweight" on grounds that the Mexican economy shows the greatest potential for improvement amongst major Latin American economies come a recovery. Bin stock Telefonos de Mexico, the main provider of telecommunications services in that country, has been doing fairly well over the last month: one fundamental reason was it paying off its 2009 debt commitment early. After churning along in an increasingly narrow trading range from early April to the beginning of August, Telmex stock has been largely moving up. Today, the ADSs gained 0.89% to close at $18.22 per. That trading range centered around $16.

That's all for today's Wrapup. Thanks for reading, and may trading ranges be good to you.

Daily Wrapup For September 1st

It's only September 1st, and they're already talking about the "September Effect." [Example.] Despite two pieces of good news, one on the home front and the other in the manufacturing arena, the three major averages went into a tailspin shortly after the items' release. The day started off unambiguously bullish, with all three averages solidly up by the 10 AM ET release time. Had the market still been macro news driven, the rally would have continued. Pending home sales kept rising, even though it's almost unprecedented for them to do so six months in a row. (The first-time house buyer tax credit had a lot to do with it.) Manufacturing activity shifted into expansion, while new orders shot up. The two production-related readings are consistent with the recession finally ending. Nevertheless, soon after both items' release, the averages plummeted: what were solid gains turned into unambiguous losses. The downtrend continued at a much slower rate from 11 AM to 12 PM ET, and settled into a trading range for the rest of the afternoon. A fitting end to today's trading came when an end-of day rally was choked off in the last few minutes. The Dow finished down 1.96%, the S&P 500 lost 2.21%, and the NASDAQ dropped an even 2.00%. Light sweet crude oil, for October delivery, also joined in the plunge party: it was down $1.91 a barrel to close at $68.05 in regular trading.

The lowest-quintile P/E cut-off also plunged, from yesterday's 11.80 to 11.58. Inversely with the S&P 500 itself, the yield cut-off shot up six basis points to 2.65%. Once ETFs and stocks with less than 500M market cap were also eliminated, along with ones yielding more than 10%, the Low P/E Bin was left with ninety-five stocks for a drop of four from yesterday. Here are the changes in the Bin, as dash-listed below:

Arrivals:
- Williams Pipeline Partners LP

Departures:
- Cooper Industries, Ltd.
- CRH PLC
- France Telecom SA
- Harvest Energy Trust
- Telkom SA Limited

The sole Arrival got back in the Bin because its stock plopped. Williams Pipeline Partners, an operator of natural gas storage and transportation systems, saw its P/E drop below the lowered cut-off due to a 2.54% decline in its stock.

Of the five Departures, three got out because they no longer fell into the Bin's dividend range. The indicated dividend of CRH plc, a European purveyor of home building materials, dropped to well below the S&P cut-off. Harvest Energy, a Canadian oil, natural gas and refined petroleum products income trust, saw its yield go above 10% due to a 5.29% drop in its stock. Today's carnage spared the stock of Telkom entirely, wich closed unchanged; the S&P yield cut-off rose above its own yield.

The other two got out thanks to their P/Es ending above the lowest-quintile cut-off. France Telecom's stock dropped 1.20%, less than the overall market, and its P/E got above the cut-off. The final Departure, circuit protection device and tool maker Cooper Industries, is the oddity of the bunch: its stock was actually up by 1.02% today. An interesting counter-move, especially given that it was booted off the S&P 500 recently. Cooper's P/E expanded, pushing it above the cut-off.

Speaking of gainers, there's an even odder one in the Bin. It gained 2.53% today, on no news: this leap is enough to make it an outlier. What makes its gain even more unusual is its line of business. Hugoton Royalty Trust is an express trust that own several producing oil and gas properties in Texas. Given both the market's and oil's fate, you would expect a stock like this one to be down a lot today. (Contrastedly, Harvest was.) Yet, for whatever reason, Hugoton stock put in a performance more August-worthy. Until a week ago, it was hanging around $14 in a narrow short-term trading range, which it now has risen above: Hugoton closed at $15.02 today. Whether there's good fundamental reason, ow whether it's been spared for a more technical reason, remains to be seen.

That's all for today's Wrapup. Thankls for reading, and may your pleasant surprises be understandable ones.


Disclosure: None.

Daily Wrapup For August 31st

Trading ended for August today, and the last day wasn't exactly a good day. News that the government of China is planning to cut back on bank lending sent the Shanghai market plummeting; so did the American market. On fear of interrupted global recovery, the three major averages all opened up with more than 0.5% losses. They fell further before 10 AM ET, to recover somewhat in early-mid morning. Most of the rest of the day was spent with the averages in trading ranges. A shortlived rally, beginning at about 2:30 PM ET, was largely erased but was replaced with a more durable rally starting an hour later. Thanks to a end-of-day added push, none of the three averages closed below 1.0% loss territory. The Dow closed with a 0.50% drop, the S&P declined 0.81%, and the NASDAQ ended the trading month with a 0.97% loss on the day. Oil also plummeted on the same news from China, as the connection between China's slowing economy and less demand for oil was quickly seen. Light sweet crude for October delivery plummeted $2.78 per barrel to end the day at $69.96.

The lowest-quintile cut-off also dropped today, from Friday's 11.95 to 11.80. Due to a readjustment, the S&P dividend yield cut-off remained unchanged at 2.59%. Once ETFs and stocks with market caps of less than 500M were gotten rid of, along with ones possessing greater than 10% yields, the Low P/E Bin was left with ninety-nine stocks for a drop of one from Friday. Here are the changes in the Bin, as dash-listed below:

Arrivals:
- China Petroleum & Chemical Corp.
- Cooper Industries, Ltd.
- France Telecom SA
- Hubbell Incorporated

Departures:
- FPL Group, Inc.
- Plains All American Pipeline, LP
- PriceSmart, Inc.
- SCANA Corporation
- Williams Pipeline Partners LP


All of the Arrivals got back in through drops in their stocks. The first Arrival is the only new one. China Petrolem and Chemical is an integrated major oil company; given the troubles both in the Shanghai and oil markets, it's not that surprising to see it show up in the Bin. The next Arrival, circuit protection device and tool maker Cooper Industries, had the worst stock decline of the four. A 4.10% drop, largely caused by the company being booted out of the S&P 500, brought its P/E below the Bin cut-off. France Telecom got back in for the same reason, even if its stock only dropped 1.15%. The final Arrival also returned for the same reason as the other three. Hubbell Inc., a maker of electrical components used in construction of homes/offices and components for electrical power transmission, hasn't been in the Bin for more than a month. A 3.24% drop in its stock brought it back.

A similar unanimity exists for today's Departures: all of them got out because the P/E cut-off fell below their own. Only one, liquid petroleum products storer and transporter Plains All-American Pipeline, saw its stock price rise today. The others declined, but didn't outpace the fall in the cut-off. Florida-based electric and natural gas utility FPL Group, international warehouse-club operator PriceSmart, North and South Carolina based utility SCANA, and natural gas transporter/storer Williams Pipeline all saw their stocks decline less than 1% today; those falls, as noted just above, weren't enough to keep them in the Bin.

Brookfield Properties Corp., a Canadian commercial real-estate company with holdings in several major North American cities, sent out a double annoucement today; both concerned a new preferred-stock offering. The first annoucement, made early in the afternoon, said that Brookfield would be selling C$150 million worth of preferreds yielding 6.75% for the first five years of their existence at C$25 per share. The second announcement, made after markets closed, upped the amount to C$250 million; the terms are the same. It's not every day that a share offering is bumped up 67% a few hours after the initial allotment has been announced. Brookfield common didn't do all that well today, suffering the same fate as other recent high-flyers. The stock dropped 3.35% to $10.97, even though dilution of this issue wasn't a factor. It was just a bad day for stocks that had rocketed up in the last couple of months; Brookfield common has been one of them.

That's all for today's Daily Wrapup. Thanks for reading, and may patience be your salve (if not salvation.)

Daily Wrapup For August 28th

The week ended with the three major averages stuck in a holding pattern. After opening with all three in positive territory, particularly the NASDAQ, the averages began a drift downwards starting at about 10 AM ET. The University of Michigan consumer confidence index, released at about that time, showed a "Consumer Mood at Four-Month Low." Quantitatively, the Reuters-University of Michigan index dropped from 66.0 to 65.7. Oddly, it contradicted the Conference Board's own number released three days ago; the latter exhibited a surprising leap upwards. Suffice it to say that the current picture consumer-wise is murky. Other consumer-related data released today showed a small rise in spending combined with flat incomes for July.

The downdrift in the three major averages continued to just before 12:30 PM ET, when they all showed losses. The rest of the day saw a slow trundle upwards, although faster for the NASDAQ. At the end of the regular trading day, the Dow was down 0.38%, the S&P 500 was down 0.20%, but the NASDAQ was up 0.05%. Encouraging results from Dell before the bell, along with the recent performance of the NASDAQ itself, encouraged speculation that tech might save the overall market from an expected September-October correction.

The lowest-quintile P/E cut-off rose from yesterday's 11.92 to today 11.95. Also rising was the yield cut-off, being the S&P dividend yield, which inched up a basis point to 2.59%. Once ETFs and stocks with less than 500M market cap were thrown out, along with ones that yield more than 10%, the Low P/E Bin was left with one hundred stocks for a drop of three from yesterday. Here are the changes in the Low P/E Bin, as dash-listed below:

Arrivals:
- PriceSmart, Inc.
- Snap-on Incorporated

Departures:
- Cooper Industries, Ltd.
- France Telecom SA
- General Dynamics Corporation
- PartnerRe Ltd.
- Safety Insurance Group, Inc.


Both Arrivals have been in the Bin before, with one of them straddling the borderline. The stock of PriceSmart, a chain of warehouse shopping clubs, dropped 0.67% today; that drop brought its P/E down below the lowest-quintile cut-off. The second Arrival, tool maker Snap-On, got back in for the same reason; its stock dropped 0.62%.

Three of the five Departures got out because their yields dropped below the S&P 500 yield cut-off. France Telecom, defense company General Dynamics, and international reinsurer PartnerRe were the three. Of the other two, only one got out of the Bin due to a rise in its stock. Cooper Industries saw a gain of 1.79%, putting its P/E above the Bin cut-off. On the other hand, the stock of Safety Insurance dropped 0.92% today. That fall put its market cap below the 500M cut-off.

J.P. Morgan's upgrade of Compass Minerals International seemed to have set off a cascade. This last week, two other investment firms have added Compass to their watch lists and assigned it a "buy" and an "outperform" respectively. The first firm was KeyBanc, which initiated coverage last Monday with the "buy." The second is BMO Capital Markets, which initiated coverage today with the "Outperform." The latter recommendation notes that winter's a'comin, and expects the sulfate of potassium market to pick up. [It also assumes normal winter conditions.] Considering that two firms have already followed in his or her wake, the J.P. Morgan analyst responsible has something to eat out on.

That's all for today's Daily Wrapup. Thanks for reading, and have a restful weekend - whether it be hot or cold.


Disclosure: I'm holding Compass Minerals in the actively-managed Marketocracy mock fund I run.

Daily Wrapup For August 27th

It didn't start off as a very good day, but it ended up as one. From the get-go, until about 10 AM ET, the three major averages plummeted. Then, they began a slow but durable climb that changed the losses into gains. After an aborted start between 10 and 11 AM ET, the first wave of the upswing clicked in; it took the Dow up to slightly positive territory. After a near-hour pause, the second wave kicked in at about 1:30 PM ET. That wave had all three averages sporting gains as of 2:30 PM ET. After the day's high was reached about fifteen minutes later, the averages drifted down for the rest of the day except for the NASDAQ; it benefitted from an end-of-day rally. At the close of regular trading, the Dow was up 0.39%, the S&P 500 gained 0.28%, and the NASDAQ put in a gain of 0.16%. Light sweet crude for October delivery stopped dropping, closing up $1.06 at $72.49 per barrel. Natural gas, though, continues to plumb new multi-year lows.

The lowest-quintile cut-off for the Low P/E Bin advanced slightly, from yesterday's 11.91 to 11.92. The yield cut-off, being the S&P 500's dividend yield, dropped one basis point to 2.58%. Once ETFs and stocks with less than 500M market cap were eliminated, as well as stocks with greater than 10% yields, the Bin was left with one hundred and three stocks for an increase of three from yesterday. Here are the changes in the Bin, as dash-listed below:

Arrivals:
- Cooper Industries, Ltd.
- Raytheon Company
- United Bankshares, Inc.

Departures:
None

Two of the three Arrivals got back in because of declines in their stocks; the third one re-arrived because the dividend cut-off fell below its own. The stock of Cooper Industries, a maker of circuit protection devices and tools, dropped 0.93% and brought its P/E back into Bin range. The same was true for United Bankshares, except more so: the stock dropped 2.39%. The final Arrival, Raytheon, is another of those companies whose stats drift around the Bin's cut-offs. The stock of the defense company rose 0.34%, but the drop in the dividend cut-off put its yield slightly above the S&P 500's.

Often, an upgrade does wonders for a Bin stock. Olin Corporation got one today, and its stock rocketed up 13.67% to close at $17.05. The company, which makes chlor alkili products and Winchester small arms, got upgraded from Equal Weight to Overweight by Barclay's Capital. Barclay's new target for the stock is $22.00. After a spill about a month ago, the company's been inching up. Today's leap comes at the end of that near-month uptrend.

That's all for today's Daily Wrapup. Thanks for reading, and keep in mind that patience still pays.

Daily Wrapup For August 26th

For the second day in a row, a wild ride in the market ended with the three major averages virtually unchanged. Before the lastest releases, the averages opened down, and were all losing more than 0.5% by 9:50 AM ET. Then, two economic-aggregate items hit the wires. Durable goods orders for July increased 4.9% overall, but the market didn't react all that much to it. That lassitude wasn't true of the other datum, from a series more closely watched. New home sales for July rose 9.6%; the median price was virtually unchanged from the previous month. The second item added an extra push to the subsequent rally, which carried the averages from loss to gain. As was the case yesterday, though, the rally fizzled. Until a much weaker rally kicked in at about 2 PM ET, the averages were in loss territory once the morning one backslid. The second rally also faded; had it not been for a third one in the last minutes, the averages would have ended up in negative territory. Instead, like yesterday, they were virtually unchanged. The Dow was up 0.04%; the S&P and NASDAQ, both 0.01%. Yesterday's drop in oil continued today, with light sweet crude for October delivery closing down 62 cents per barrel to end the day at $71.43.

The lowest-quintile cut-off also fell, slightly, from yesterday's 11.95 to today's 11.91. Once again, the yield cut-off remained unchanged: the S&P dividend yield stayed at 2.59%. After ETFs and stocks with market caps of under 500M were thrown out, along with ones yielding more than 10%, the Low P/E Bin was left with one hundred stocks for a gain of one from yesterday. Here are the changes in the Bin, as dash-listed below:

Arrivals:
- Banco de Chile
- Bancolombia SA
- FPL Group, Inc.
- Williams Pipeline Partners LP

Departures:
- Altria Group, Inc.
- Cooper Industries, Ltd.
- CPFL Energia SA


Three of today's Arrivals are new to the Bin. The first, Banco de Chile, got in because a 3.64% drop in its stock put its P/E well below the Bin's cut-off. FPL Group, an electric utility based in Florida, also saw its stock drop and its P/E lowered to Bin levels. The third new Arrival got in for the same reason. The stock of Williams Pipeline Partners, which transports and stores natural gas, dropped 1.07% and its P/E dropped below the cut-off. Bancolumbia got out only yesterday: a 0.56% drop in its stock puts its P/E below the lowest-quintile cut-off, but only slightly so.

The Altria Group do-si-do continued today. The stock of the American arm of Phillip Morris was up slightly, edging its P/E slightly above the Bin cut-off. Cooper Industries, a maker of electrical circuit protection products and tools, fared better today. Its stock was up 0.93%, making for enough P/E expansion to put it out of the Bin too. The final Departure was a recent Arrival, whose stock put in an even bigger gain. CPFL Energia, a Brazilian electric utility, saw its P/E go above the Bin maximum with a 1.80% gain in its stock.

Sunoco's a Bin stock that was easy to underestimate. About a month and a half ago, it had hit a 52-week low. The company, which is the only major oil to not have any significant upstream operations, was poleaxed by collapsing crack spreads that ended up hitting its second-quarter income statement to the tune of a 47 cent per share loss. Since then, though, the stock has undergone a quiet, slow but largely steady recovery. Crack spreads have improved subsequently, and the alarm that had permeated the petroleum-products market is now gone. Today, the stock's recovery was a little on the quick side: it gained 5.01% to close at $27.69. Not bad for a stock that was below $22 as of July 8th.

That's all for today's Daily Wrapup. Thanks for reading, and be comforted by yet another example of market overreaction.

Daily Wrapup For August 25th

Thankfully for the bulls, the good-news parade continued today. The three major averages opened up about 0.4%, but they all got a real kicker with the release of the new consumer confidence index number. Rather than increase to 48, it shot up to 54.1. Last month's number was also revised upwards. This item added a kick in the pants to the averages, all of which were up by more than 1% shortly after the release. Then, they reversed completely. By 10:30 AM ET, they were all lower than the level they were as of the start of trading. However, a second rally ensued. More slow than the first, it also lasted longer. It too faded, though: at the day's nadir, the averages were well below the morning's lows. A late-day rally, beginning at 2:45 PM ET, held but only partially. After a session that could be called exciting, or frustrating, the Dow closed up 0.32%, the S&P 500 up 0.24%, and the NASDAQ up 0.31%. After trying yet again to break the $75 a barrel barrier, light sweet crude for October delivery plummeted $2.32 to close at $72.05.

The two main cut-offs for the Low P/E Bin barely budged. The lowest-quintile cut-off dropped one hundredth of a point, from yesterday's 11.96 to today's 11.95. The yield cut-off, the S&P 500 dividend yield, was unchanged at 2.59%. Once ETFs and stocks with market caps of less than 500M were eliminated, along with ones that yielded more than 10%, the Bin was left with ninety-nine stocks for a drop of one from yesterday. Here are the changes in the Low P/E Bin, as dash-listed below:

Arrivals:
- Altria Group, Inc.
- CPFL Energia SA

Departures:
- Bancolombia SA
- Snap-on Incorporated
- United Bankshares, Inc.

The first Arrival is one that's shifted in and out of the Bin for some time now. Altria Group, the U.S. arm of Phillip Morris, fell 0.98% today; that drop brought its P/E slightly below the lowest-quintile cut-off. The second is a newcomer. CPFL Energia, an electric-utility holding company whose operating subsidiary does business in Brazil, got into the Bin through a 3.35% drop in its stock. That plummet put its P/E well below the cut-off.

The first Departure has been a mainstay since the Bin's inception. Bancolumbia, one of Columbia's biggest banks, got out of the Bin thanks to a sustained rise in its stock. Today's 1.94% gain put its P/E over the cut-off. The same happy outcome visited Snap-On, a maker of tools and diagnostic equipment for professionals. Its stock gained 0.87%, which put its own P/E above the lowest quintile. The final Departure benefitted from a reversal in the regional banks. United Bankshares, a bank holding company whose subsidiaries operate in Virginia and West Virginia, gained 2.16% today. That rise put its P/E, like those of the other two Departures, above the Bin's cut-off.

A done deal, done with the FDIC as broker, still adds a kicker to a bank stock. Spanish bank Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria is now the new owner of most of the assets of the now-failed Guaranty Bank of Texas. The stock didn't react much when it was rumoured that Bilbao had won the bidding, but today's officiality did the trick - or added some fuel to an already-existing rally. Bilbao gained 2.90% in regular trading, and was up a little more in after-hours trading. The benefit was far smaller than BB&T's take-over of Colonial's assets last August 14th, but there still was one. Or what seemed to be one.

That's all for today's Daily Wrapup. Thanks for reading, and hold on to your valuation metrics.


Disclosure: I'm holding Bilbao in the actively-managed Marketocracy mock fund I run.

Daily Wrapup For August 24th

It was supposed to be the start of another winning week, but an early afternoon drop put an end to that hope. The three major averages were up in the morning, continuing Friday's rise until about 11 AM ET. At that point, they were all up more than 0.5%; the S&P 500 was close to a 1% gain. Then, the decline started. Slow at first, like the first dip on a roller coaster, the slide took the averages into loss positions by early afternoon. A recovery attempt in mid-afternoon kept the averages at about the break-even point, but that failed to hold until an aborted 3:30 rally was replaced by a sustained last-minute rise. The Dow was the only one of the three to end regular trading in positive territory, with a miniscule gain of 0.03%. The S&P was down an almost as miniscule 0.06%, and the NASDAQ dropped 0.14%. Although disappointing, the day could have been worse. Light sweet crude oil was a mitigating factor: October crude was up 31 cents a barrel to close at $74.20. $75 is near, and the bullish comments are coming back.

The lowest-quintile cut-off for the Low P/E Bin, contrary to the averages, was also up, from Friday's 11.89 to today's 11.96. Almost like the index itself, the S&P 500's yield didn't budge from Friday's 2.59%. Once ETFs and stocks with less than 500M market cap were discarded, along with ones that yielded more than 10%, the Bin was left with one hundred stocks for a drop of three from yesterday. Here are the changes in the Low P/E Bin, as dash-listed below:

Arrivals:
- Baytex Energy Trust
- Snap-on Incorporated
- United Bankshares, Inc.

Departures:
- Altria Group, Inc.
- Holly Corporation
- Honeywell International Inc.
- NTELOS Holdings Corp.
- Telecom Corp of New Zealand
- WSP Holdings Limited


Baytex, an oil and natural gas energy trust based in Canada, was up slightly. Its P/E, though, didn't rise enough to match the rise in the P/E cut-off; that brought it back into the Bin. Snap-On got back in for the same reason, although its stock declined slightly in regular trading.

Thanks to some discouraging comments made recently about the regionals, the stocks of those banks haven't performed all that well lately. One of the stocks that was affected by today's rout in those financials was United Bankshares, Inc., a regional with subsidiaries in Virginia and West Virginia. It dropped 3.82% today; the resultant P/E compression brought it back to the Bin after an absence precipitated by a hope-induced rally in the regionals.

Despite the overall market droop, Altria Group racked up an impressive 1.61% gain today. Holly Corporation gained an even more inpressive 3.41%. These gains in the stocks of the American arm of Phillip Morris and one of America's larger independent refiners, respectively, put both companies out of the Bin as their P/Es expanded to above the cut-off. Honeywell, a well-known maker of control systems, also exited the Bin for the same reason: its stock jumped up 2.62% today.

The fourth Departure, NTELOS Holdings, continued Friday's zoom-up by posting a 6.42% gain today. That jump makes for a 12.8% two-day gain for the Virginia and West Virginia telecommunications service provider. There was no news to account for it on Friday, but there was today: NTELOS announced a stock buyback program. Perhaps it was just a relief rally, though: in after-hours trading, the stock lost all of today's gain. Unless this fall-back is due to after-hours vagaries, it looks like NTELOS will be in tomorrow's Arrivals.

New Zealand Telecom makes for the fifth of five Departures to be pushed out because of a jump in its stock. A 4.00% gain expanded NZTel's P/E enough to put it out of the Bin. The last Departure, though, got out through a drop. WSP Holdings shares' 1.44% loss on the day put its market cap below 500M.

About two weeks ago, in an earlier entry, I mentioned Suburban Propane Partners' tender offer for no more than $175 million worth of 6.875% Senior Notes due 2013. That offer included a $50 bonus, per $1000 face-value in notes, for tendering on or before the early-tender deadline. That deadline expired at 5 PM ET last Friday. Today, the company announced that holders of more than $300 million worth of the notes had tendered by that expiry date. Since the early tender option was oversubscribed, Suburban will be paying $1025 per $1000 face value for the entire buyback. My back-of-the-envelope calcualtion in the same entry, assuming 2% yield on cash, concluded that the deal would be accretive to earnings if the entire allotment was tendered. Despite that calculation, Suburban's stock dropped 0.07% today. It's still below the secondary-offering price of $41.50 for the trust-unit issuance that'll provide partially payment for the tendered bonds. Despite that discrepancy, the underwriters agreed to a partial taking up of their over-allotment option this morning: about 231,000 of the available 330,000 units.

That's all for today's Wrapup. Thanks for reading, and may any discrepancies you happen upon be to your advantage.


Disclosure: I'm holding Suburban Propane Partners in the actively-managed Marketocracy mock fund I run.

Daily Wrapup For August 21st

[Note: Corrected number of stocks in the Bin, and added appropriate commentary.]

This time, it was the latest housing figures that supplied the rationale for another big rally. The three major averages opened up with greater than 0.5% gains, and took off like a shot just before 10 AM ET. When the spurt-up was finished, they were up around 1.50%. The rest of the day saw them range-bound until Fed Chairman Bernanke's remarks were disseminated. His suggestion that the recession seems to be over provided an extra boost near the end of the day. Although the averages drifted a little lower near the close, their gains were still strong: the Dow closed up 1.67%, the S&P ended with a gain of 1.86%, and the NASDAQ finished the week up 1.59%. Light sweet crude also gained today, closing at $73.89 per barrel and setting a 10-month record in the process. It's at about where it was in June, but this time without the blithe bullishness that accompanied its last visit to the $75 area. Interestingly, at the same time oil made a year-to-date high, natural gas hit a seven-year low.

The lowest-quintile P/E cut-off also rose today, to 11.89 from yesterday's 11.71. For the first time since this blog started, the S&P dividend yield fell below 2.60%; it ended up at 2.59%. After ETFs and stocks with market caps of under 500M were thrown out, along with ones sporting dividend yields of greater than 10%, the Low P/E Bin was left with one hundred and three stocks for a gain of one from yesterday. Here are the changes in the Bin, as dash-listed below:

Arrivals:
- Altria Group, Inc.
- CenterPoint Energy, Inc.
- CVB Financial Corp.
- PartnerRe Ltd.
- WSP Holdings Limited

Departures:
- Merck & Co., Inc.
- PH Glatfelter Company
- PriceSmart, Inc.
- Snap-on Incorporated


All of the Arrivals are former Bin members returning; all but one got in because their stocks didn't keep pace with the overall market. Altria Group, the American arm of Phillip Morris, saw the P/E cut-off rise above its own. So did electric utility CenterPoint. CVB, a company that I had mistakenly thought would be gone from the Bin permanently, is back once again: the holding company for the Californian Citizens Business Bank got in for the same reason as the two preceding. PartnerRe, an international reinsurer, returned to the Bin becasue the yield cut-off dropped below its own. The last Arrival, WSP Holdings, did keep pace; its stock rose 1.87% today. That gain put its market cap above 500M.

Three of the four Departures got out because 3+% gains in their stocks put their P/Es above the lowest-quintile cut-off. Major pharmaceutical company Merck, warehouse-club discount retailer PriceSmart, and tool maker Snap-On all got out for that happy reason. The sole exception was P.H. Glatfelter, whose stock dropped 2.67% today. There was no news to account for the drop, which put Glatfelter's market cap below the 500M cut-off.

Sometimes rallies engender relief rallies. NTELOS is a stock whose one-month beta is almost certainly negative; as the market rose, it fell. Starting on July 1st, when it had closed at $18.53, NTELOS was declining steadily until five days ago. Until four days ago, it had been stuck in a short-term trading range. Today, however, it shot up 5.79% to close at $14.79. There was no news to explain why this battered-down stock would reverse; the last item of significance was its lowering of its FY 2009 net income estimate about two weeks ago.

That's all for today's Daily Wrapup. Thanks for reading, and remember to check if those dollars at a discount are genuine or adulterated.

Daily Wrapup For August 20th

Yesterday's action carried through to today's. After opening only slightly up, the three major averages climbed to over 0.50% gains for each. After sinking back a little in late morning (ET) trading, they crept up through most of the afternoon. A late-day rally kicked in about 3 PM ET, which pushed the averages up to their close for the day. The Dow was up 0.76% at the end, the S&P was up 1.09%, and the NASDAQ gained 1.01%. Of some note was the S&P's rise back above the 1000 level. The NASDAQ has yet to follow through for its "millenium" number, but it's less than eleven points below 2000. On the day of the September contract expiry, light sweet crude closed at $71.85 for a drop of 57 cents, dashing earlier-day hopes that yesterday's jump would be continued.

The lowest-quintile cut-off also rose, from yesterday's 11.62 to today's 11.71. Inversely with the S&P index, the yield dropped three basis points to 2.64%. After ETFs and stocks with less than 500M market cap were eliminated, along with ones that yield greater than 10%, the Low P/E Bin was left with one hundred and two stocks for a gain of two from yesterday. Here are the changes in the Bin, as dash-listed below:

Arrivals:
- Biovail Corporation
- Merck & Co., Inc.
- SCANA Corporation

Departures:
- CVB Financial Corp.


The first Arrival is new to the Bin. Biovail, a Canadian maker of drug-delivery technologies, got in because the S&P has outpaced it enough to make its yield sit above the yield cut-off. The stock was up 0.22% today, even if after-hours trading reversed that slight gain. Merck dropped a little today, bringing its P/E back below the lowest-quintile cut-off. The stock of South Carolina electric utility SCANA rose a little, but not enough to keep its P/E above the cut-off. The only Departure, CVB Financial, got out because a 2.68% rise in its stock put its P/E above the respective cut-off.

The oil-tanker transportation industry has been ridden with recent losses because of the recession-induced drop in global oil demand. Ship Finance International has not been one of these companies, at least for the second quarter of this year. It reported earnings of 72 cents per share for 2Q '09, as compared with 98 cents for 2Q '08. It also declared a full 30 cent per share quarterly dividend. Both of these items took some cloud off the stock today, pushing it up 4.36%. Ship Finance was a company that had a lot of doubt thrown on it: it fell out of the Bin last month becuse a declining stock price pushed its yield well above 10%. Even after its gain today, it still yields 9.46%. Since the stock isn't an income trust, the current yield suggests that there's still some doubt about how long the 30-cent dividend will be maintained.

That's all for today's Daily Wrapup. Thanks for reading, and enjoy the dwindling days of August while they last.


Disclosure: I'm holding Ship Finance in the actively-managed Marketocracy mock fund I run.

Daily Wrapup For August 19th

It took a surprise drop in crude inventories to get the market up today. The three major averages started down about 1%, due to the resumed fall in the Chinese stock market last night. That opening gap didn't last, however: by 10 AM ET, all three averages were near the break-even point. Then, the news of the surprise inventory drop was disseminated. That was enough to get all three averages shooting well into positive territory. By noon ET, they were all up about 0.5% on the day. A drift upward ensued, which was staunched in mid-afternoon. An end-of-day rally helped the Dow to close with a 0.66% gain, the S&P to close up 0.69%, and the NASDAQ to close with a gain of 0.68%. Light sweet crude for September delivery was, of course, kicked up by the news: it closed at $72.42 per barrel for a gain of $3.23.

The lowest-quintile cut-off rose quite a bit today, from yesterday's 11.41 to today's 11.62. The S&P 500 dividend yield, which forms the yield cut-off, dropped one basis point to 2.67%. Once ETFs and stocks with less than 500M market cap were discarded, as well as stocks with greater than 10% yields, the Low P/E Bin was left with one hundred stocks: the same as yesterday. Here are the changes within the Bin, as dash-listed below:

Arrivals:
- Enersis SA
- Plains All American Pipeline, LP

Departures:
- Baytex Energy Trust
- Merck & Co., Inc.

The first Arrival, as it turns out, had gotten out through a glitch. Enersis, a Latin American electric utility, had a recorded yield above 10% two days ago. It's now recorded as 4.45%, putting the stock back in the Bin. Plains All American dropped slightly today; the rise in the lowest-quintile cut-off put its P/E back in Bin range.

Both Departures got out because of P/E expansion outstripping the cut-off rise; both were gainers today. Baytex Energy Trust, an oil and gas income trust with interests in Canada and the U.S, closed up 1.57% today. Major pharmaceutical company Merck gained 2.51%. Both stocks' gains lifted them out of the Bin.

Bin stock Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria made the business news today, for reportedly making the winning bid for the assets of ailing Texas bank Guaranty Financial Group. The deal was brokered by the FDIC, and marks the lastest inroad into Texas banking by the Spanish bank. Unlike the stock of an earlier acquirer, BB&T Corporation, Bilbao's stock did not rocket up as a result. It closed with a 0.87% gain, about in line with the three major averages.

That's all for today's Daily Wrapup. Thanks for reading, and remember that prudence works.


Disclosure: I'm holding Bilbao in the actively-managed Marketocracy mock fund I run.

Daily Wrapup For August 18th

Yesterday's spill was not repeated today. From the get-go, the three major averages were all up. After a slight reaction about twenty minutes after trading started, the averages kept climbing for the rest of the day. News reports like the one following attributed the rise to better-than-expected retail results, but an earlier recovery in the Asian markets had an influence too. A last-minute decline whittled down the averages' gains somewhat: the Dow ended up by 0.90%, the S&P 500 gained 1.01%, and the NASDAQ ended regular trading with a gain of 1.30%. Light sweet crude perked up, rising $1.44 per barrel to close at $69.19. This quote is for the September contract, which is due to expire in two days.

The lowest-quintile P/E cut-off also rose, although only slightly. Today's cut-off was 11.41 as compared with yesterday's 11.39. The dividend yield of the S&P, which forms the yield cut-off, dropped a good four basis points to 2.68%. After also eliminating ETFs and stocks with market caps of less than 500M, as well as ones with yields greater than 10%, the Low P/E Bin was left with one hundred stocks for a gain of five from yesterday. Here are the changes in the Low P/E Bin, as dash-listed below:

Arrivals:
- CVB Financial Corp.
- H&R Block, Inc.
- Holly Corporation
- Magyar Telekom Plc.
- Merck & Co., Inc.
- Permian Basin Royalty Trust
- PriceSmart, Inc.

Departures:
- Financial Federal Corporation
- Plains All American Pipeline, LP


All of the Arrivals are companies that were in the Bin earlier; three of them returned because of drops in their stock. CVB Financial, a holding company for the Citizens Business Bank in California, saw its stock drop 0.13% today to bring its P/E below the cut-off. H&R Block stock dropped by a more substantial amount, but got back in for the same reason as CVB. Holly, a petroleum-products refiner, rose a fair bit. Its yield, though, didn't drop enough to put it below the lowered yield cut-off. Magyar, Hungary's main communications services company, rose even more today: 5.17%. This leap puts its yield back below the 10% cut-off. Merck, a major pharmaceutical company, dropped 0.55%; this loss put its P/E back below the cut-off. Permian Basin, an express trust holding interests in several Texas oil and gas properties, is another gainer in the Arrival list. Its 2.67% rise put its market cap above the 500M cut-off. PriceSmart, an operator of discount warehouse-shopping clubs, also gained today. However, its P/E didn't rise enough to keep it out of the Bin.

The two Departures were gainers that both got out through P/E expansion. Financial Federal, a collateralized lending, financing and leasing company for the construction industry, gained 2.33% and saw its P/E rise well above the Bin's cut-off. A similar fate befell Plains All American, an owner-operator of several oil and natural gas pipelines plus LNG facilities. Its stock rose 1.63%, and its P/E rose enough to push it out of the Bin.

Telefonos de Mexico, Mexico's main communication-services company, saw its stock plummet close to 5% in after-hours trading last night - at about the time when it announced good corporate news. Specifically, it announced an early repayment of a loan tranche due this year, which has cleared its decks of any repayment commitments for the rest of this year. As it turns out, Telmex stock didn't drop at all today: for the entire trading day, it was riding a gain with respect to yesterday's pre-after-hours close. So, that reversed after-hours plummet has to be chalked up to an after-hours trading vagary. Perhaps there was a rumour that the coming news was bad news, which proved to be the opposite of the truth.

That's all for today's Wrapup. Thanks for reading, and I hope any rumour-driven bobbles affecting you are duly disregarded.

Daily Wrapup For August 17th

There wasn't any hint of an August rally today. Following in the wake of the Asian averages, particularly the Shanghai, the three major American averages plummeted about 2% right after trading began. After that plunge, they continued to drift downwards until about 11:15 AM ET. A short relief rally pushed them up somewhat, and the resultant range held until about 3 PM ET. Then, the downward drift continued until the close. Interestingly, there were no end-of-day rallies or plummets today. The Dow closed down 2.00%, the S&P 500 dropped 2.43%, and the NASDAQ ended down 2.75%. Stocks in general weren't the only asset class that was clobbered: light sweet crude closed at $66.75 a barrel.

The lowest-quintile P/E cut-off also ramped down, from Friday's 11.63 to today's 11.39. The S&P dividend yield, which forms the yield cut-off, rose seven basis point to 2.72%. After ETFs and stocks with market cap of less than 500M were eliminated, as well as ones with greater than 10% yields, the Low P/E Bin was left with ninety-five stocks for a drop of seven from Friday. Here are the changes in the Bin, as dash-listed below:

Arrivals:
- Honeywell International Inc.
- Snap-on Incorporated

Departures:
- Altria Group, Inc.
- CenterPoint Energy, Inc.
- Enersis SA
- H&R Block, Inc.
- Merck & Co., Inc.
- PartnerRe Ltd.
- SCANA Corporation
- The Travelers Companies, Inc.
- WSP Holdings Limited


Both Arrivals saw their stocks plummet enough to bring them back into the Bin. Honeywell, a maker of control devices with uses in several industries, saw its stock drop 2.65% and its P/E drop to below the Bin's cut-off. Snap-On, a toolmaker, also got back because its P/E dropped to below the cut-off.

The Departures got out for mostly happy reasons. By coincidence, two electric utilities in the Departure list saw their stocks close unchanged in regular trading. As a result, both CenterPoint and SCANA saw the P/E cut-off drop below their own. The stock of Altria Group, the U.S. arm of Phillip Morris, dropped only slightly today; like the previous two stocks, the low P/E cut-off lowered below its own P/E. Enersis got out because its Stock-Screener-recorded yield shot up well above 10%: that could be the result of a special dividend. With the exception of a quickly-reversed opening plummet, H&R Block was up (slightly) all day. Its P/E rose above the lowered cut-off. Merck didn't rise, but it got out of the Bin for substantially the same reason. International general reinsurance provider PartnerRe's stock also declined only slightly: its yield dropped below the yield cut-off. So did regular insurance company The Travelers. The last Departure is, in a way, the saddest. WSP Holdings was a high flyer in early-mid June, but was hammered earlier this month due to an earnings miss. This company, a China-rooted maker of seamless oil-country tubular goods, was doubly hit by the Chinese market's plummet and the oil market's. It dropped 10.18%, shooting its market cap to well below the 500M cut-off.

Speaking of reversing fortunes, BHP Billiton hasn't been having the best of times lately. Its stock declined 5.02% as the bloom on the reflation story wilted in the metals market. The recent strength of the U.S dollar was the major factor. Its drop put the stock below $50, a level not seen since almost a month ago.

That's all for the today's Wrapup. Thanks for reading, and watch out for non-falling utilities.

Daily Wrapup For August 14th

It was not a good day for American stocks. Despite a better than expected industrial production figure, the market took its cue from the flat CPI for July. By the time the consumer sentiment index numbers were released, the averages were flat to down. The unexpected decline in consumer sentiment was enough of a shake to get the averages tumbling down: by 10:15 AM ET, all three major averages had dropped to well below a 1% loss. (The Russell small-cap index fared worse.) After hitting a nadir at about 11:30 AM ET, all three averages slowly trundled up until a relief rally kicked in at about 3:30 PM ET. That rally wiped away about half of the averages' earlier-day declines. The Dow closed down 0.82%, the S&P posted a loss of 0.85%, and the NASDAQ sunk 1.19%. Light sweet crude got hammered by $3.01 per barrel to close at $67.51.

The lowest-quintile P/E cut-off joined the overall trend by falling today, from yesterday's 11.74 to 11.63. The S&P's dividend yield, which forms the yield cut-off, jumped three basis points to 2.65%. After ETFs and stocks with less than 500M market cap were sifted out, as well as ones with yields greater than 10%, the Low P/E Bin was left with one hundred and two stocks for a decline of four from yesterday. Here are the changes in the Low P/E Bin, as dash-listed below:

Arrivals:
- Cooper Industries, Ltd.
- France Telecom SA

Departures:
- Carpenter Technology Corporation
- Cousins Properties Inc.
- Edison International
- Permian Basin Royalty Trust
- Tsakos Energy Navigation Ltd.
- UIL Holdings Corporation

The two Arrivals are ones that have been in the Bin before, although one of them has been gone for some time. That one is Cooper Industries, a maker of electrical circuit protector products and tools. Its 2.61% drop today lowered its P/E below the Bin cut-off. The same cause got France Telecom back in.

The six Departures got out for drop-related reasons, with the notable exception of two. Those two are, significantly, both electric utilities: Edison International and UIL Holdings. Edison was up 1.99% today, and UIL was up 0.35%. Both gains pushed both companies' P/E ratios above the lowest quintile cut-off.

A 2Q loss pushed Carpenter's 12-month trailing EPS down to the point where its P/E is well above the cut-off: the stock of the specialty metals manufacturer dropped 1.59% today. Cousins Properties's market cap dropped below 500M today due to a 4.63% drop in the REIT's stock. The same fate got Permian Basin, an express trust with interests in several Texas oil and gas properties, out of the Bin too. Tsakos, a ship-transportation company specializing in crude oil tankers, saw its yield go above 10%.

There was another drop today, a surprising one given the company's fate in its home-country exchange. Yanzhou Coal announced a takeover of Australian company Felix Resources. The news sent the stock up on both the Shanghai and Hong Kong exchanges today, but the American market was far less impressed. Yanzhou's ADRs closed down 3.79% at $15.49 on the first day they've traded since last Friday.

That's all for today's Daily Wrapup. Thanks for reading, and may your weekend be free of the anxieties of the momentum trader.

Daily Wrapup For August 13th

Despite the morning news disclosing weaker retail sales and an unexpected rise in first-time jobless claims, the rally ended up continuing. After a plummet in the early morning, which took the three major averages to about a 0.5% drop on the day, they recovered and were in positive territory by 10:30 AM ET. After reaching the morning's high point at about 11 AM ET, they sunk back somewhat until an aborted rise in early afternoon ET, after which they briefly plummeted. By 2 PM, all three were down on the day. The last two hours of trading saw them pull back up, to close with all three on the upside. The Dow gained 0.39%, the S&P 500 was up 0.69% and the NASDAQ gained 0.53%. After being up considerably more earlier in the day, light sweet crude ended at $70.52/barrel for a gain of 36 cents.

In sympathy with the averages, the lowest-quintile P/E cut-off rose to 11.74 from yesterday's 11.65. The S&P dividend yield, which forms the Low P/E Bin yield cut-off, dropped two basis points to reach 2.62%. After ETFs and stocks with less than 500M market cap were eliminated, along with ones with yields greater then 10%, the Bin was left with one hundred and six stocks for a gain of two from yesterday. Here are the changes in the Low P/E Bin, as dash-listed below:

Arrivals:
- Edison International
- Permian Basin Royalty Trust
- Plains All American Pipeline, LP
- UIL Holdings Corporation

Departures:
- Allianz SE
- Barclays PLC


Of the Arrivals, all but one are returns. Edison International, an electric utility in Southern California with electricity selling and investment arms also, got back in the Bin because its P/E fell below the upped cut-off; Edison dropped 1.34%. Permian Basin Trust, a holder of several oil and gas producing properties in Texas, got back because its market cap rose above 500M. UIL Holding stock wasn't down; in fact, it gained 0.39%. This electric utility got back in because the P/E cut-off rose to exceed its own.

The new Arrival is Plains All American Pipeline. The stock was down 1.29% today, which brought its P/E down to cross the lowest-quintile cut-off. Plains is a company that transports crude oil, natural gas and liquified petroleum gas. Its pipelines are in several regions of the United States and extend into Canada.

The two Departures were both up on the day, but each got out for a different reason. Allianz, global insurance and banking services provider, saw its P/E shoot up because its 12-month trailing earnings sunk: that, plus its 2.02% rise, got it out of the Bin. Barclays was also up, but it hasn't declared a dividend in about a year. Hence, it's left the Bin because it has no more yield - and won't until it declares another dividend of sufficient amount.

This list of insider transactions, which I got from today's edition of the Casey Research Daily Dispatch, presents a sobering (and comprehensive) sight. A large majority of the listed transactions are sales. One exception that sticks out is a 3,500 share purchase of electric utility Ameren Corporation, bought by VP and Controller Mark Clarke two days ago. After hitting a low of $23.36 on July 10th, in part because of cap-and-trade fears, Ameren drifted upwards until it settled into its current above-$26 trading range. It closed up 0.30% today at $26.35, for a P/E of 9.87 and a yield of 5.84%. The stock is virtually unchanged from Tuesday's range.

That's all for today's Daily Wrapup. Thanks for reading, and I hope your outsider trading has gone well.

Daily Wrapup For August 12th

It's often held that the end of a Fed meeting bodes well for stocks. Despite the iffiness of that rule, it held up once again. The three major averages started off strong, leaping up to over 1% gains by 10 AM and basically holding there. News reports, like this one, attributed the early rise to good earnings news from Macy's and Toll Brothers. A leap-up later in the day, prior to a dip staring right after 2 PM ET, was attributed to the Fed's decision to leave the Fed funds rate unchanged. The NASDAQ briefly had a more than 2% gain, and the other two major averages were close to 2%. Near the end of regular trading, though, that late-afternoon rally was erased; the three major averages were left at about the same point they were at as of about 2:30 PM. The Dow was up 1.30%, the S&P 500 gained 1.15%, and the NASDAQ was up 1.47%. All told, it could be argued that the morning leap had discounted the Fed's decision and report all along. September light sweet crude closed today at $70.16.

The lowest quintile P/E cut-off also shot up, to 11.65 from yesterday's 11.41. In line with the S&P's rise, its yield sunk three basis points to 2.64%. After ETFs were thrown out, as well as stocks with more than 10% yields and/or market caps of less than 500M, the Low P/E Bin was left with one hundred and four stocks for a gain of five from yesterday. Here are today's changes in the Bin, as dash-listed below:

Arrivals:
- Alliance Resource Partners, LP
- Altria Group, Inc.
- CenterPoint Energy, Inc.
- NTELOS Holdings Corp.
- SCANA Corporation

Departures:
None.

All but one of the Arrivals are companies that have been in the Bin before. The exception is the first one, Alliance Resource Partners. Alliance, which sells metallurgical and steam coal to steel companies and utilities, got in the Bin becaue its price dropped 2.20% today; that loss pushed its P/E below the upped Bin cut-off. Altria Group, the holding company for Phillip Morris USA, returned due to the P/E cut-off's rise. So did CenterPoint, a Texas utility holding company, and SCANA Corp, another electric utility; SCANA has its operations in South Carolina, but its natural gas arm does business in both Carolinas. The final Arrival, NTELOS, fell 2.88% in regular trading. Although this drop was reversed in after-hours trading, the regular day's drop put its P/E low enough for it to return to the Bin. NTELOS is a communication-services company that services Virginia and West Virginia.

A Bin stock got panned today by UBS, but the stock wasn't affected by the "sell" rating being maintained. As the first paragraph of the Globe and Mail write-up explains, "UBS expressed concern over Brookfield Properties' decision to buy distressed properties around the world and said it would keep its 'sell' rating on the property manager intact." The analyst responsible, Ross T. Nussbaum, also cited Brookfield's high debt-equity ratio as a concern. Despite that negative assessment, Brookfield climbed up today and ended with a gain of 1.85%.

That's all for today's Daily Wrapup. Thanks for reading, and may your holdings not depend too much on the Fed.

Daily Wrapup For August 11th

Despite some good news on the economic front, the three major averages fared badly today. There wasn't a single moment when any of them were up on the day, and all three dropped by more than 1% as of the close. It was reported this morning that U.S labour costs dropped and labour productivity soared. Also reported was a drop in U.S. wholesalers' inventory levels, which could be seen as an improvement (if this recession were an ordinary one.) Nevertheless, the market either took the gloomy view and/or shrugged both off. The Dow dropped 1.03% on the day, the S&P 500 dropped 1.27% and the NASDAQ dropped 1.13%. Oil closed up, despite a drop earlier in the day: a report about Chinese imports continuing to grow helped put light sweet crude up 33 cents to close at $70.93 per barrel.

The lowest-quintile P/E cut-off also dropped today, from yesterday's 11.60 to today's 11.41. As the S&P dropped, the yield cut-off rose three basis points to 2.68%. When ETFs and stocks with market cap of less than 500M are thrown out, along with ones that yield more than 10%, the Low P/E Bin was left with ninety-nine stocks for a drop of seven from yesterday. Here are the changes in the Bin, as dash-listed below:

Arrivals:
- Entertainment Properties Trust
- South Jersey Industries

Departures:
- Altria Group, Inc.
- CenterPoint Energy, Inc.
- Edison International
- France Telecom SA
- Magyar Telekom Plc
- Navios Maritime Holdings Inc.
- Permian Basin Royalty Trust
- SCANA Corporation
- UIL Holdings Corporation


Entertainment Properties Trust, a REIT that holds movie theatres, was the first of the two Arrivals. It got back because a 5.21% decline in the stock brought its P/E lack below the cut-off. The second and last Arrival, South Jersey Industries, is a natural gas utility holding company whose service area is the southern part of New Jersey. It got in the Bin through its 12-month trailing earnings going up enough to put its P/E below the cut-off.

There were nine Departures today, which made for a mixed lot. Altria Group, the holding company for Phillip Morris' U.S operations, got out because the P/E cut-off fell below its own. CenterPoint, an electric and natural gas utility located in Texas, got out because its P/E rose today thanks to a 0.64% gain in the stock. Another electric utility, Edison International, got out because of a 12-month trailing earnings drop which pushed its P/E above the cut-off; France Telecom got out for the same reason.

Magyar Telekom, the main telecom company in Hungary, got out of the Bin due to its yield rising above 10%. The next two departed because their market caps dropped below 500M. Navios Maritime, a bulk shipper, and Permian Basin, an oil and gas income trust, dropped 5.81% and 2.61% respectively. SCANA Corporation, on the other hand, got out because the P/E cut-off dropped below its own. That electric utility was up 0.24% today. The final Departure was yet another electric utility, UIL Corporation, which left the Bin for the same reason as SCANA.

Some companies are favoured in earnings season, some are not. WSP Holdings, a maker of drill casings and other tubular goods for the oil industry, was not. It announced second-quarter EPS of 10 cents per ADS, as compared with 25 cents for the second quarter of '08. This 60% drop caused the stock to plummet 18.57% on the day. This stock had rocketed up starting June 9th, on a tear that took it above $7.00. The rally fizzled late that month; the stock ended up hanging around $6.00 until today. Today's plummet, to $4.91, puts it only sixteen cents above its price on June 8th. Its reversal makes for a cautionary tale for chart-watchers, and those who think that a ramp-up signifies a recovery in the offing.

That's all for today's Wrapup. Thanks for reading, and watch out for falling bubbles.